What everyone should know about concussions

On behalf of Vice & Hunter LLP posted in brain injuries on Tuesday, December 22, 2015.

In the course of the last few years, concussions have received a lot of attention. While many readers may have heard the term used, it is possible they may not know exactly what it is. In this post we will provide information that most would likely benefit from knowing.

The first thing is they can be hard to diagnose. A person who is suffering from this type of brain injury may never lose consciousness, and currently, there is not a test that is routinely administered to determine what has happened.

Second, to experience a concussion it is not necessary for there to be direct trauma to the person’s head. While that could of course result in a concussion, so too could a rapid acceleration and deceleration to the head. In either situation the brain could be crushed against the inside of the skull.

While one concussion may not lead to serious repercussions, when a person experiences a number of them, brain damage could be cumulative and permanent. Research has shown this sometimes resulting in chronic traumatic encephalopathy, due to degeneration and accumulation of “tau” protein.

Though again, not definitive, symptoms of a concussion include:

Confusion

Disorientation

Amnesia

Headache

Dizziness

Nausea

Vomiting

In addition, someone who has suffered a concussion might also experience disturbances in sleep, brain function and mood.

There are many ways in which someone could suffer a concussion. Legal action may be possible in situations where the person who caused the injury inducing accident was negligent in some way. Meeting with a personal injury lawyer is the best way to determine whether it makes sense to take this course of action.